source: Topside

This award winning film merits watching by those who cast a judgmental eye at the homeless population. Celine Held and Logan George shared a horrible thing happening in society today while at the same time, educating us that sacrificial love is possible in all of us.

Celine Held's "Topside" is a grim portrait of people on society's margins, and what they have to do to survive. You can bet money that tens of millions of people worldwide live like this. The fact remains that if you're reading this review, you're among the privileged members of society.

It started out a little slow but the emotion in this movie is very realistic! The actress that play Nikki (Celine Held) was amazing! The terror and fear she projected was so real! This movie kept me on the edge of my chair!

To offset all of the fake 10/10 reviews, I offer an honest review, without any spoilers. The portrayal of addiction throughout the movie is neither accurate nor complete. It falls quite short in an attempt to make the mother care more for her child than her addiction. The portrayal of the homelessness crisis also falls short, not offering a complete look. Had the story and characters been better developed and fleshed out, the movie might have been compelling. The frantic camera action, jerking and bobbing, while meant to reflect the characters angst, is just annoying. Kudos to the lighting direction. Too many movies are shot in the dark (aka the entire last season of GOT). While this had many dark scenes underground, the lighting was done quite strategically, offering enough contrast to follow the scene.

'Topside' features Nikki (Celine Held), a drug addled mother of a 5-year0old girl, Little (Zhaila Farmer), and how they survive underground in an abandoned New York subway tunnel. Together, a small community of homeless denizens watch over each other and help protect Little, until one day, when the city clears out the encampment for remodeling and everyone scatters. It then falls to Nikki and Little to find a way to survive topside. This film shows how homeless people can be displaced, taken advantage of, and how everyone around them tries to 'help' by way of calling social services. Nikki's main concern throughout the movie is not being seperated from Little, and at no point do any of the various do-gooders offer that. The passion from Celine Held for her incredibly talented co-star, Zhalia Farmer, is very realistic and captivating. Truly a gritty tale with heart Worth a watch!

Are you uncomfortable? Good, you should be. Put your judgement aside. Walk in someone else's shoes. I don't want to hear, "you shouldn't do drugs if you have a child" or "she's a horrible mother." This is about real life and real situations. Life is all about experiences and perspectives. If you don't have certain experiences you can gain knowledge and perspective through someone else's struggle and story. Raw look at poverty and homelessness. This is how hundreds of thousands of people have to live due to dependency, mental illness, etc. In my mind love did prevail not apathy....

This is the most tense drama I've ever seen... literally tensing up. I was hesitant to watch as I thought it might be too slow, even for me. But I was drawn in pretty quickly! Very well thought out film, one I won't forget.

Edge of your seat climatic! Run don't walk to see this movie when the opportunity presents itself! I was blown away by the actors- the second half is almost unbearable in its intensity- but leads to a feeling of deep understanding when it is all over..........

I was not expecting such a realistic movie about a homeless drug addict with a Child. Having worked in that environment I can tell you this is as real as it gets.